ClimateExplore the planning map
Climate · Charleston

Charleston in May

Warm and damp, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Charleston is warm: highs near 82°F, lows near 67°F. Rain falls on about two days a week, more often as the month goes on, and the days lengthen by 38 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Charleston is warm: highs near 28°C, lows near 19°C. Rain falls on about two days a week, more often as the month goes on, and the days lengthen by 38 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
82°F28°Caverage
Low
67°F19°Caverage
Wet days
2a week · 31% of days
Daylight
13h 50mon average

Is May a good time to visit Charleston?

A good month, just outside Charleston's best months, which run in two parts: April, or October to November.

How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 70°F to 80°F, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 21°C to 27°C, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.

How May sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 82°F in May, against 62°F to 90°F through the year.Highs near 28°C in May, against 17°C to 32°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

31% of days in May, against 24% to 67% through the year.

Cloud cover

46% cover in May, against 38% to 57% through the year.

Daylight

13h 50m in May, against 10h 01m to 14h 16m through the year.

Week by week, lightly smoothed, with May shaded. The olive line marks the best months. Hover or tap a week for its figures.

Either side

  1. April75°24°low 59°low 15°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  2. May82°28°low 67°low 19°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  3. June87°31°low 74°low 23°4 wet days a weekRain on about four days a week.

Where Charleston sits, in May

America/New York
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
6:21 AMsets 8:10 PM
Above the sea
0 mlow-lying
Latitude
32.8°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Bluffton106 km south-west

The land around Charleston, shaded by its typical high in May, the planning map's own layer. Hover the map for the figure at that spot; tap it on a phone. Clock times are local, for the 15th.

Elsewhere in United States in May

high · low · wet days
See May on the planning mapThe whole year in Charleston

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Charleston. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match.Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match. Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not. Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.

Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not.

Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.